SFVBJ Current Edition | San Fernando Valley Business Journal

Faith in the Future of Office

Warner Landmark, former Anthem headquarters, to become creative offices.

An aging Warner Center building, vacant for more than a year, badly needs to reposition itself for the post-pandemic economy.

Housing Hot For Sylmar

Developer plans to build 132 units on Foothill Boulevard.

A mixed-use project with a large-scale residential component – featuring 132 one-, two- and three-bedroom units – has been proposed for Sylmar, according to city of Los Angeles records.

Reconfiguration of the Retail Sector in T.O.

Broker sees shopping centers transmuting, not dying.

While the “retail apocalypse” became a common chorus pre-pandemic due to the dominance of Amazon.com Inc.-led e-commerce — a phenomenon which only accelerated in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys in 2020 during lockdown — one high-powered broker said that store spaces and properties are giving way to other types of tenants and usages.

Home Sales Solid as New Year Dawns

Low interest rates, inventory drive up prices in January.

Interest rates near historic lows fueled strong Valley home sales last month, pushing prices higher even as the inventory of homes for sale fell to a record low, according to a Southland Regional Association of Realtors report.

Performance Venues in Second Year of Shutdown

LIST: For live entertainment planners, uncertainty remains the looming challenge.

Local performing arts and cultural centers – unable to stage concerts or invite audiences to see plays – have felt the brunt of the pandemic.

No-Alcohol Hand Sanitizer Can’t Crack Market

SunDial solves chemical issue, sales prove elusive.

Shivie Dhillon has developed a stable version of hypochlorous acid for use in a hand sanitizer to combat the coronavirus.

SPAC Deal Puts Electric Truck Maker on Nasdaq

Xos will use capital infusion to expand fleet.

Xos, the electric-powered truck manufacturer with offices in North Hollywood, is to become a publicly traded company following its merger with Special Purpose Acquisition Company NextGen Acquisition Corp., it was announced on Feb. 22.

Final Sale for Apex Global Brands

Apparel company will go private at discount price.

Apparel company Apex Global Brands Inc. will go private following its acquisition last month by Galaxy Universal, a wholesaling, sourcing and brand management company based in Centennial, Colo. Galaxy, which is privately held and focuses on the athletic, work and outdoor categories, will pay $2 a share for all outstanding shares of Apex, which trades on the over-the-counter market since being delisted from the Nasdaq in November.

Printful to Bigger Digs

Fulfillment center relocates to Valencia from Van Nuys.

Print-on-demand service Printful has found new digs in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Toy Industry’s Pandemic Boom

Disney, MGA benefit from stay-at-home spending.

Toy sales in the U.S. grew 16 percent last year to $25.1 billion, according to a January report from New York research company The NPD Group.

Clinic Debuts Cancer Heat Therapy

First prostate patient on West Coast treated.

RadNet’s Liberty Pacific Advanced Imaging West Hills, an outpatient facility near West Hills Hospital, is the first site on the West Coast to perform a breakthrough treatment for prostate cancer.

CVS Launches Vaccination in Valley

Stores with shots include Agoura Hills, Ventura.

Agoura Hills and Ventura were the first CVS Health locations in the San Fernando Valley region to start administering COVID-19 vaccines, the company said in a statement.

PerkinElmer Lab Seeking Validation

Whistleblower reports indicate inaccurate tests.

Weeks after the state government announced it is actively investigating allegations of poor management at a PerkinElmer COVID-19 testing laboratory in Valencia, the Massachusetts company said it is seeking accreditation for the lab.

COVID Caregiver

PROFILE: Bob Beitcher has guided the MPTF campus in Woodland Hills through ‘an intense year’ battling the coronavirus.

Bob Beitcher has led the Motion Picture & Television Fund’s Wasserman Campus in Woodland Hills for more than 10 years, and prior that was a major executive at multiple companies in the entertainment industry, including Panavision and Jim Henson Productions. He considers MPTF residents close friends, and has made it his mission to keep them as safe as possible, and their families well informed during the pandemic. Despite best efforts, eight residents and two staff members were lost to the virus.

Avery Positioned to Grow as Economy Ramps Up

MANUFACTURING: Analyst cites ‘strong competitive advantage’ in many markets.

Avery Dennison Corp. has made progress toward its five key goals as reflected in the company’s fourth-quarter and year-end earnings released last month.

Scooters’ Slow Rollout in Valley’s Downtown

TRANSIT: After a viral hiatus, scooters return to sidewalks and streets in Warner Center.

Scooters from Lime have returned to Warner Center corners after disappearing since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

Service Opportunist

PROFILE: Hope of the Valley’s Ken Craft uses business tactics to combat homelessness.

Since founding Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission in 2009, former preacher Ken Craft has grown his nonprofit into one of the largest transitional housing and homeless service providers in the San Fernando Valley. With regulatory red tape and a strong NIMBY contingent limiting real estate options, the job has been anything but easy.

Attraction Maker Busy in Pandemic

Work switches from theme parks to football arenas and theaters.

With no crowds at theme parks, LA ProPoint should be out of work. But the attraction design and manufacturing firm in Sun Valley has found work in related industries and kept busy with three lengthy projects.

Credit Union Puts On Drive-In Shows

Logix and Santa Clarita present socially distanced entertainment.

Logix Federal Credit Union will sponsor a drive-in movie series in Santa Clarita, set to begin mid-March.

VALLEY INSIDER

Banker at Westlake Bio

State Sparks a Hotelier Exit

HOSPITALITY: Project Homekey buys properties in downturn.

Local governments have purchased at least eight hotels in the San Fernando Valley and Ventura County for conversion into permanent homeless shelters through the state’s Project Homekey initiative.

A Second Sight Buyout Strategy

MEDICAL DEVICES: Companies join tech for visual prosthetics.

Second Sight Medical Products Inc. plans to combine with Pixium Vision SA, a French company, to pursue their common quest to develop bionic vision systems.

Rearview Mirror Helps Judge the Road Ahead

Brokers talk property sectors after year of uncertainty.

Two brokers in the trenches of the North Los Angeles commercial real estate market spoke to the Business Journal about how 2020 went and what we can expect through 2022.

Construction Underway at Needham II

Developers open next phase for Santa Clarita park.

Construction on Phase II of Santa Clarita industrial park The Center at Needham Ranch has begun.